EPCOT Rumor Tracker

TIMEFRAME

RUMOR STATUS

Numerous projects for EPCOT are at various stages of development. As part of the overhaul, the park will return to the all capitalized name moving from Epcot to EPCOT in 2020.

EPCOT’s budget is rumored to be in excess of $2 billion.

Individual attractions and pavilions will also receive updates and those will be tracked in different rumors. additions that will be tracked in separate rumors.

Other infrastructure changes include new parking lot tram drop off locations. The first location officially re-opened on October 24, 2019. A new Eastern Parking lot tram is also in development as the front entrance of the park is reconfigured.

This Rumor Tracker will be retained for more general EPCOT information and the individual Rumor Trackers will be updated as needed.

RUMOR TIMELINE

May 5, 2020: On Disney’s Quarter 2 Fiscal Year 2020 earnings call, Disney Chief Financial Officer Christine McCarthy stated the company’s plans to reduce capital expenditures during the Covid-19 pandemic. McCarthy stated that capital expenditures for the parks and resorts would be reduced by $900 million by way of pausing refurbishment and construction projects.

Details of specific projects that may be subject to delay or cancellation were not stated, but construction on all ongoing Walt Disney World projects was suspended shortly after the park closure in March.

It is unknown what changes at Epcot will be affected by the reduction in capital expenditures.

March 7, 2020: The left side entrance bag check has been redesigned and is now re-opened.

March 2, 2020: In late February / early March, Disney began using the capitalized name EPCOT when mentioning the park. DisneyWorld.com has not yet changed, but the capitalization is being used in Press Releases and on the Disney Parks Blog.

December 26, 2019: Walls were removed from the new Eastern Parking lot tram drop off area. BlogMickey.com posted photos of the new area.

October 24, 2019: The new parking lot tram drop off location officially opened.

August 19, 2019: WDWMagic.com user marni1971 is reporting that the Parks and Resorts presentation at the D23 Expo (scheduled for August 25th) is expected to be Epcot heavy and include the following updates:

June 6, 2019: Disney announced that the D23 Expo Parks, Experiences and Products presentation will take place on Sunday August 25th at 10:30 AM PST and details on the transformation of Epcot will be announced.

May 29, 2019: The Disney Parks Blog teased fans with an announcement today that Epcot updates would be announced at the D23 Expo. The Expo will be held from August 23-25th at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Details were limited, and largely in line with previous announcements of the park’s evolution. Of note was the mention of new pavilion icons in the style of the classic Epcot pavilion logos.

Also of note was the specific mention of items flanking Spaceship Earth. The article also referred to Epcot as the “foodie park” potentially giving an indication that the Festival schedule will not be changing.

February 5, 2018: BlogMickey.com has posted photos from the Southern Florida Water Management District that showcase development at the front of Epcot. These photos show the creation of a new pond, an extension of the existing parking lot and the likely location of the rumored Epcot resort. The plans also feature the label, “Epcot World Center” directly on Spaceship Earth, indicating a hint at a potential name change to Future World or the park itself.

October 24, 2017: WDWMagic.com user marni1971 is reporting that the budget for Epcot is in excess of $2 billion, not including any hotel.

October 24, 2017: On Episode 138b of the Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill discusses that the $2 billion budget to redo Epcot may be modified to facilitate the construction of a hotel.

They discussed two possible locations for the hotel. One would be South East of the current Wonder Parking Lot, and the other is near the Bus Parking area.

March 21, 2017: WDWMagic.com user MagicFeather is reporting that the expected likelihood of projects taking place in Epcot is as follows:

Mission: SPACE update/refurbishment

Ratatouille attraction in the France Pavilion

Guardians of the Galaxy attraction replacing Ellen’s Energy Adventure

Small attraction addition to the United Kingdom Pavilion

First new country in World Showcase (Likely Brazil)

Living with the Land/The Land Pavilion refurbishment

Second new country in World Showcase (Likely Spain)

March 14, 2017: WDWMagic.com user marni1971 is reporting that multiple projects are in the works at Epcot. He does not expect all of them to be green lit, but he knows of 18 different projects being considered, 10 of which include intellectual properties. He also made a point that not all of these projects are new attractions.

November 15, 2013: WDWMagic.com user WDW1974 has reported that two major additions are coming to Epcot.

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